This year is for us the year of car shows. We have been invited to the Subaru Experience prior and now we are invited also to the Land Rover experience. And who can resist free entry if it is within driving distance at Temecula California? As a bonus we have not visited the area before so we are looking forward to explore this touristy spot. But first we have to get out of Phoenix, all highways are clogged and it takes seemingly forever before we finally are on the open highways stopping only at rest areas for bio breaks.
Lodging in the area is quite expensive so in the end we settle on an AirBnB where we can stay inside an Airstream. it is an upgrade from what was offered at the festival, a tent for a higher price. And especially with rain on the horizon we feel also safer in the Airstream. It has additional cover that includes the deck and inside it is reasonably spacious given our needs.
Accessing the bed can be a chore though especially if you are not the person sleeping on the outside. Also taking a bath outside while the weather is in the 50s F and raining is likely not recommended.
We enjoy the views of the town from the deck while we eat from our provisions and then go to sleep as we are quite tired after a long day of driving.
In the morning it is not raining so we have some time to explore the grounds around the Airstream. Maybe even see some birds like the California Thrasher that woke us up by “singing” close to our Airstream.
The paths here are weirdly covered in green fabric, not sure if it is anti-slip or some other idea. For certain it holds the water though as we find out while walking on it.
Exploring the access road we see that the owner is busy building multiple other AirBnBs nearby, it will get quite busy when they are ready.
We have quite a large kitchen area, outside but covered, but not a lot to do in it. We make some coffee and then decide to maybe eat breakfast outside if we can find something open.
We find quite a few birds in this small area but the biggest bonus is a covey of California Quails, it is the first time we see them in the US.
We eat breakfast at a nearby Mexican restaurant, it is quite good even though for some reason the restaurant is empty. This is in contrast with the first restaurant we tried which had 1/2h waiting time. Luckily we didn’t wait as it starts raining just when we enter the restaurant and it continues raining including when we exit it. So we are not sure about the exhibit but in the end we go, it is free after all, and enjoy it before returning to the room to dry out.
Temecula is a very well known wine area and we go to multiple wineries trying to find a bottle to buy but all are geared for tasting and none have anything easy to buy. So we give up and buy some from Total Wine and then drink it in the evening with our dinner, from a nearby Asian restaurant.
The food is quite good also and satisfied we go to sleep, tomorrow is our last day here and we have quite a few things planned.
In the morning before checkout and to check out the weather we explore again the grounds finding similar birds as the day before.
We sit on the terrace and eat breakfast both leftovers and from our privisions while we start packing, we have to check out before we go to the expo.
When we leave the AirBnB the sun is out and we hope it is a good sign for our visit, spoiler, yes it is for most of the day. And then we say goodbye and are on our way to the expo and then we explore a few other nature areas before returning to Phoenix.
